''Paddy the Next Best Thing'' (also written as ''Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing'') is a 1908 romantic

comedy novel A comic novel is a novel-length work of humorous fiction. Many well-known authors have written comic novels, including P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Mark Twain, and John Kennedy Toole. Comic novels are often defined by the author's literary ...

by the British writer

Gertrude Page Gertrude Eliza Page (1872 – 1 April 1922) was an Anglo-Rhodesian novelist. Biography Educated at Bedford High School, Page wrote for ''The Girl's Own Paper'' as a teenager. Marrying George Alexander "Alec" Dobbin in 1902, she moved with him t ...

. The heroine of the story is Paddy Adair, the daughter of an impoverished Irish landowner near Carlingford. Her father, General Adair, had hoped she would be a boy, but is delighted by the high-spirited Paddy who dubs herself as "the next best thing" to a boy. Paddy falls in love with another landowner, who had once been involved with her elder sister.

Adaptations

Gayer Mackay and Robert Ord adapted the novel into a successful 1920 West End play of the same title."London Theatres", ''The Stage'', 8 April 1920, p. 16 The cast was: *General Adair – J. H. Barnes *Dr Davy Adair – Clive Currie *Eileen Adair – Betty Faire *Mary O'Hara – Margaret Nicholls *Jack O'Hara –

Anew McMaster Anew McMaster (24 December 1891 – 24 August 1962) was a British stage actor who during his nearly 45 year acting career toured the UK, Ireland, Australia and the United States. For almost 35 years he toured as actor-manager of his own theatri ...

*Laurence Blake –

Ion Swinley Ion Swinley (27 October 1891 – 16 September 1937), born Eric Ion Swindley was an English actor, known for his appearances in classics and modern dramas and comedies. Life and career Swinley was born in the London suburb of Barnes on 27 Octobe ...

*Doreen Blake – Eithne McChee *Gwendoline Carew – Winifred Evans *Lord Sellahy – H. V. Tollemache *Micky – Hyland T. O'Shea *Webb – Ethel Callanan *Mrs Bingley – Christine Jensen *Mrs Putter – Rose Edouin *Paddy – Peggy O'Neill. The play opened at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

on 5 April 1920, transferred briefly to the Strand Theatre in February 1922, and moved back to the Savoy in March, completing its run of 867 performances on 22 April 1922. The novel has been made into films on two occasions: a 1923 British silent film directed by

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox Order of the British Empire, CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and film director, director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best know ...

and starring

Mae Marsh Mae Marsh (born Mary Wayne Marsh; November 9, 1894U.S. Census records for 1900, El Paso, Texas, Sheet No. 6 – February 13, 1968) was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life Mae Marsh was born Mary Wayne M ...

and a 1933 American sound film directed by

Harry Lachman Harry B. Lachman (June 29, 1886 – March 19, 1975) was an American artist, set designer, and film director. He was born in La Salle, Illinois on June 29, 1886. Lachman was educated at the University of Michigan before becoming a magazine and bo ...

and starring

Janet Gaynor Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later ...

Goble p.357

References

Sources

* Block, Andrew. ''Key Books of British Authors, 1600-1932''. D. Archer, 1933. * Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * 1908 British novels Novels by Gertrude Page British romance novels British novels adapted into films Novels set in Ireland Hurst and Blackett books {{1900s-romance-novel-stub